Girl Power
by newanimefan
Summary: After learning of the ARMPIT platoon's almost inevitable failure, one of the high-ups in the Keronian military decides to send out a team of girls to replace them. There's something oddly familiar about them, though...
1. Chapter 1

Okay, to start off: I don't own Sgt. Frog, and I've been working on this in between classes so if it feels rushed, let me know. I respond well to feedback, so the more reviews I get the more likely I'll keep writing! If you hate it, please keep that to yourself and leave my heart and soul intact, okay? Unless, suppose, you _really really _hate it, then I suppose I would need to know that it's not very good and I'll stop writing. If you have ideas regarding the future storyline, let me know that too!

Three weeks before A.R.M.P.I.T.'s launch from Keron to Pekopon

"Sgt. Maj. Kululu! We need you to calculate the A.R.M.P.I.T. Platoon's chances for success in its mission!" said Major General Kadada, a jet black frog who was well-renowned.

"Kukuku… Already calculated sir!" Kululu replied over his intercom system.

"And?" Kadada asked over his own system, slightly annoyed that Kululu hadn't just come out and said it.

"98% chance of failure, sir. Kukuku…" Kululu told him, and turned off his radio before Kadada had a chance to react.

Kadada sighed. He'd thought as much. Keroro's actual test results had been phenomenal, but his personality test had indicated that he'd be useless in Pekopon's low humidity.

Well, he'd just have to clone their DNA and make the Female A.R.M.P.I.T. Replacement Team. I the platoon failed, he'd just send in F.A.R.T, who's acronym would be even more unfortunate. Keronians had a knack for horrible acronyms.

Girls were usually better at getting things done, anyway, right? He'd have to be sure they were raised differently though. They would be, technically, the same people, so unless they wanted them to be exactly the same, they'd have to raise them in an environment that would correct some of the major faults in the platoon.

Better start cloning now and putting them in accelerated growth capsules. If the platoon still hadn't conquered Pekopon in three years, they'd try the girls.

"Dr. Verara!" he called over his system. "I need you to clone DNA stores 17, 229, 367, 528, and 932 and put them in accelerant capsules! Oh and make them female! On the double!"

"Yes sir!" cried Verara enthusiastically. Turning off his intercom, Kadada leaned back in his chair and sighed. Now there would hopefully be little chance of failure.


	2. Chapter 2

Yes, the slightly familiar girls are going to be clones! Probably totally cliché, but who cares! I thought it would be funny! Eventually, I'll post a 'character description file' in which I will attempt to describe how I imagine the girls! It's kind of hard to explain, though, so when I get it posted don't hate me if you don't get it!

3 Years Later

Kadada sighed. Three whole years on the stupid planet, and the ARMPIT platoon hadn't conquered a single inch of Pekoponian soil! If anything, they had merely become useless during their time there!

Keroro had become obsessed with Gundam models, Tamama was only good in a bind, Kululu was just… psycho, Zeroro had changed his name and was trying to _save_ the place, and Giroro, the supposedly rough and tough warrior, had actually _fallen in love_ with a Pekoponian!

Good thing that the Female ARMPIT Replacement Team (FART) was done maturing, now. They were all sped up to the ages of the originals, so they were combat-ready and waiting to be shipped out. And based on their tests, they should be much more effective.

And, surprisingly, they were all advanced to the same ranks as the men, too! Amazing, the similarities. Amazing, hopefully, the differences. Kadada pushed his radio button, hailing the leader of the female team.

"Kerora! Gather your team and be ready to head out tomorrow morning!" he ordered. Kerora looked up from her fairy tale picture book.

"Really? Cool! I'll have to pack my Barbie collection!" Kerora replied, and ran off to tell her friends.

Kadada smirked. He had a soft spot for Kerora. She was enthusiastic, followed orders, and on the whole she was better than the original. Keroro was a rebellious lazy butt.

He just hoped that when the two groups found out, which was inevitable because they could be twins, that they wouldn't hate him for it. He'd done it for the good of Keron. That made him justified in not telling them, right? How would the girls react when they found out that they were copies? He'd just have to wait until they got there to see.


	3. Chapter 3

I hope you like it so far! I know it's a little bit slow, but it gets more interesting when the two groups meet! Now to meet some of the other girls…

Elsewhere…

"Kulala! Guess what?" Kerora sang, dancing in happy little circles as she burst into the room.

"You got some rare new Barbie?" Kulala guessed looking up reluctantly from the blueprints she was working on. She knew Kerora well, and tried hard to keep her agitation out of her voice. She didn't care at all about Kerora's stupid toy obsession, but she didn't want to jeopardize their friendship by being insensitive or unsupportive.

"Even better!" Kerora exclaimed, jumping up and down in excitement. This ignited Kulala's curiosity. The only thing Kerora loved more than Barbies and fairy tale picture books was her job. Which meant that Kerora was excited about something work-related.

"What?" asked Kulala, genuinely interested now.

"We're going to Pekopon! Major General Kadada said that we're to take over the mission, there!" Kerora giggled gleefully, and ran off to alert the others.

Kulala leaned back in her chair. What to pack…? She had so many gizmos and gadgets she'd find useful for an invasion. But there was no way she'd be able to pack them all, was there?


	4. Chapter 4

Hello, readers! Me again. The author. Anyway, I wanted to point out some major and possibly confusing differences in the personality traits of the girls you've met so far and their corresponding males. Although they share the same DNA, they did get raised differently, so bear with me.

Kulala and Kululu, while both geniuses with a crazy side, go about it very differently. Kululu is kind of horrible and violent, loving pain, but Kulala's malicious side was tamed, so she turned out caring and trustworthy, more creative than dangerous, a polar opposite to Kululu. That's why she actually _values_ her friendship with Kerora.

I'll do explanations like this the chapter after you've met the girls, so if you don't care or find it boring, just skip the first part for the next couple chapters.

Elsewhere…Again

"Tamomi! There you are!" Kerora cried, catching up to her teammate in the hallway, recognizing her by the cute little stuffed animal/backpack she wore.

"Oh! Kerora!" Tamomi exclaimed, giving her friend an enthusiastic hug. "What's up?"

"We're finally being sent to Pekopon! Pack your bags!" Kerora sang. Tamomi giggled gleefully. She could hardly wait!

"I'll tell Doriri, you go tell Gertrude!" Tamomi suggested, and Kerora nodded. They ran off in opposite directions.


	5. Chapter 5

Sorry about the short chapter, but the scenes with the news going around are short, so there will be a few more chapters like this. They'll be posted close together, though, so I hope you don't mind. Anyway, here's the explanation for Tamomi…

Tamomi is much more similar to Tamama than Kulala is to Kululu, but there are some key differences. For one, Tamomi does not have a Kerora obsession. Also, she never gets mad. About anything. She's a real crier, though. You'll see that… eventually.

Elsewhere… Once Again

"Doriri? I know you're in here somewhere!" Tamomi called, looking around the arboretum that was her ninja-friends bedroom. Happening to glance up, she noticed Doriri balancing on a vine that stretched across the room like she was some sort of circus performer. She gazed down at Tamomi in her usual unnerving silence.

"There you are, Doriri!" Tamomi exclaimed happily, unphased. She had grown up with Doriri's silence. Doriri didn't talk much, and usually kept to herself. The rest of the team were constantly trying to include her, but she only talked if she had something important or profound to say, and even then it was in a barely audible whisper.

Doriri jumped to the floor, landing agilely on her hands and flipping onto her feet.

"What is it?" Doriri asked quietly, her light blue-gray face mask only barely moving with the motion of her mouth.

"We're being sent to Pekopon tomorrow!" Tamomi informed her, and Doriri smiled, or at least Tamomi though she did. It was kind of hard to tell under the mask.

"I'll finally be able to observe their unique plant species up close. I've heard they have many edible plants unavailable on Keron. Being a vegetarian will be much more pleasant with the variety there!" Doriri breathed.

Tamomi stared at her for a moment. That had to be one of the longest speeches she'd ever heard Doriri make! She must be _really_ excited!

"Well, I'll leave you to pack for tomorrow, okay?" Tamomi asked awkwardly. Doriri nodded and disappeared into the greenery.

Tamomi left to get a start on her own packing.


	6. Chapter 6

Okay, to explain Doriri. Dororo craves attention and doesn't get it, but Doriri gets attention she _really_ doesn't want. Also, she wears her mask not because she's afraid of germs, but because it helps her to blend in with the background, because it's the same color as the walls of their building.

At Around The Same Time… Elsewhere 

"Gertrude! Put down the sword! It's just me!" Kerora exclaimed, startled by the lethal weapon aimed at her face. Gertrude sighed with a mixture of relief and annoyance, putting down the half-sharpened sword she had been sharpening.

"What do you want, Kerora?" Gertrude asked irritably, not really caring. Kerora, although relatively efficient, was most definitely _not_ Gertrude's favorite person. She had a tendency of getting on Gertrude's nerves.

"Just came to tell you that you need to pack," Kerora said defensively, noting the irritation evident in Gertrude's voice. "We leave for Pekopon tomorrow."

"Heh. They finally realized the ARMPIT Platoon is useless, eh?" Gertrude chuckled, shaking her head. She'd never seen any pictures of their predecessors, but she's heard some things. Their weapons expert had fallen in love! The idiot…

"Yeah, I guess," Kerora said, shrugging. "Speaking of the ARMPIT Platoon, I wonder why the five of us seem to be the only ones who don't know what they look like." Gertrude nodded thoughtfully. She'd always thought it was strange.

"Maybe they're intimidating and they don't want us scared, or they look stupid and they don't want us getting overconfident, or…" Gertrude said, trailing off. Kerora sighed. Maybe it was for no reason at all, but the way the military guarded their secrets, they might not know until they were face-to-face. She hoped that they wouldn't get violent when they learned that the girls were taking over.

"Well, anyway, Gertrude, you should start packing," Kerora said, and ran off to finally start the packing of her own.


	7. Chapter 7

Now to explain Gertrude… I know that Gertrude isn't a Keronian sounding name, but I couldn't resist. I think it makes a good girl name for Giroro, and it sounds tough, so I went with it.

Gertrude, like Giroro, is the weapons expert of the team. However, she tends to prefer melee weapons. Not that she doesn't know how to assemble/shoot a variety of guns, and also a bow and arrow. Other than that, they are relatively the same. The most dedicated to the mission, tough, grumpy, and they're going to have similar first experiences on Pekopon. Bwahahahaha…

But you'll just have to wait and see what I mean by that. Anyway, here we go…

The Next Day…

"Okay, I think that's it!" Kerora exclaimed, loading the last of her luggage into their spaceship.

"All of my weaponry is loaded, as well," Gertrude said, rolling a weapons rack into the cargo bay.

Tamomi had been done for a while, all her stuffed animals tucked neatly in a corner.

Kulala walked into the dock carrying a small metal box, no larger than a music box, and nothing else.

"Um, Kulala? Don't you want to bring more gizmos than that?" Tamomi asked, slinging her favorite stuffed animal over her shoulder and eyeing the box suspiciously.

"All my gizmos are already in here. This little contraption automatically shrinks whatever I put in and makes it weightless, at least while it's still in the box. I put it together last night before I went to sleep as an afterthought. *Kakaka…" Kulala replied, putting her box down right inside the door.

"Where's Doriri?" Kerora asked, tapping her foot impatiently. They'd have to leave really soon if they were going to make it to Pekopon before sunset!

"Here," came a breath from behind her. She wheeled around and found herself face-to-face with Doriri.

"Oh! Doriri! There you are. Well, we're all here, so we'd better get going if we want to get there before the Pekoponians go to sleep! Kadada said we had to make ourselves known to them if we're going to be living in their basement," Kerora said, and turned to march into the ship. Tamomi squealed in excitement, squeezing her stuffed animal.

"Finally, the day has come for us to do what we were raised for," Gertrude sighed, and with that the entire team went on board.

Kulala made her way into the cockpit, by for the most qualified to drive the spacecraft, and started it up. Then, in a flash of light, they were off.

Kadada watched them go through his bedroom window.

"Hopefully," he thought to himself, " They won't let their shock from finding out get in the way of their mission. Or cause them to hunt me down…" A bead of sweat rolled down his forehead.

*=Kulala's version of 'Kukuku…'


	8. Chapter 8

Okay, now we see what's happening on Pekopon. But first, I want to say something really quick. Obviously, the girls look a lot like the guys, but I decided that the girls, unlike other Keronian females you meet during the show, actually wear clothes. Dresses, actually. And Gertrude's belt just goes around her waist, not her shoulder. At the very end of my story, I'll post an entire chapter about my mental vision of the girls, but until then that's all I'll tell you, unless it's subtly hinted at in the story.

Around The Same Time…

"STUPID TOAD!" Natsumi yelled, running down the stairs in a fury. She'd just been listening to Mutsumi's radio show when a loud crash from downstairs had interrupted the part of the show she waited for every time; the letter reading.

She burst through Keroro's bedroom door, eyes aflame, only to find four of the five frogs in shock, the other laughing hysterically and rolling on the floor, tears of mirth streaming out from behind the glasses Natsumi still didn't understand how he could see through.

The source of the crash, she saw, must have been the table getting overturned when Dororo fell from his nook in the ceiling and landed on it. That didn't sound like him, though. He wasn't clumsy…

"Kululu! What happened?" Natsumi demanded of the jubilant frog.

"Kukuku… We've just gotten a message from headquarters. Apparently, they've gotten tired of our general incompetence. They've banished us from Keron and are sending a replacement team. We're supposed to tale them in and let them take control of the base! Kukuku…" Kululu replied mirthfully.

"What? And why are you so happy about it?" Natsumi asked, shocked, confused, and annoyed. So they were going to have more annoying frogs living in their basement?

"Oh, nothing in particular, mostly just that I've known this was going to happen for a long time, now. Kukuku…" Kululu replied.

"How did you know? And why don't you care?" Natsumi asked suspiciously.

"I hacked into their network, of course! Kukuku… I've been intercepting the higher-ups' e-mails since before we left Keron! Kukuku… And I don't care because you Pekoponians are wonderful test subjects. The only Keronian that's any fun to mess with and experiment on is Giroro, and he's stuck here just like me! Kukuku…" Kululu explained. Natsumi didn't like the sound of the test subject thing, but she had noticed that Kululu tended to make Giroro's life a misery, although under Keroro's orders. That's something they had in common. She wondered why…

Kululu continued to laugh husterically, and Natsumi frowned, thinking of something.

"Wait a minute, Kululu. Won't this new team be actually, you know, _serious_ about conquering the planet?" Natsumi asked, the horrible realization washing over her.

"Kukuku… Who's to know? But if I were you, I'd prepare myself for a life of horrible slavery! Kukuku…" Kululu replied. Some of the other frogs were starting to snap out of their motionless shock.

"So, we can't ever go back?" Tamama asked, his voice quivering.

"Pull yourself together, soldier! Real warriors don't cry!" Giroro said gruffly, standing up shakily.

"Don't worry guys! I'm sure it's all just a big misunderstanding! Remember last time? It was just a medical checkup!" Keroro said, and was going to say more, but a knock emanating distantly from upstairs interrupted.

"I have to go get that! One sec, you guys!" Natsumi said, and ran upstairs distractedly, her interrupted radio show all but forgotten. She opened the door…


	9. Chapter 9

Thank you VictoriaFirewraith and GG66XD66 for your reviews! I'm glad you like the story line so far! I bet you can guess who's at the door, right? This is one of my favorite parts! XD I hope you like it! Oh, and keep reviewing! ;)

At The Door…

"Hello, may I help…?" Natsumi began, but trailed off. There was no one there.

"Down here, Pekoponian scum! You are Natsumi Hinata, correct?" asked a voice from around Natsumi's knees. Natsumi looked down, horrorstruck. Were the new frogs here already?

There, standing on the doormat, were five more frogs, all in little dresses, but there was something strangely familiar about them…

"Sis! I'm home!" Fuyuki cried, walking in through the front gate. He halted at the sight of the frogs.

"Hey, um, why are they dressed as girls? This isn't another stupid scheme to take over, is it?" Fuyuki asked, staring at the five female Keronians.

"We are the Female ARMPIT Replacement Team, Pekoponian, and we've come to take control of the invasion of your feeble race! Where is the ARMPIT Platoon? We need them to give us a tour of our new base!" said the one who looked freakishly like Keroro.

"You mean you guys aren't…?" Fuyuki trailed off, really confused. Natsumi didn't understand either. They looked exactly like them!

Natsumi heard footsteps behind her, and stood aside to let Kululu pass her and stand in the doorway. She wondered how he'd react.

"Kukuku… Welcome, Kerora, Kulala, Tamomi, Doriri, and Gertrude. This is our base!" he exclaimed, apparently unphased by the fact that he was staring at himself and the rest of the platoon in girl form.

The girls, in contrast, gaped at him, and Kulala gasped. She was unprepared for this.

"Kulala! He looks just like you!" Tamomi exclaimed excitedly, jumping up and down.

"Kukuku… Yes, well there's a reason for that," Kululu replied. Everyone stared at him, wanting an explanation, but he didn't give one. He merely turned around and walked back over to the ladder that he'd climbed up from the base. The rest of the frogs followed, still unnerved by Kululu and Kulala's striking resemblance.

Fuyuki and Natsumi followed, too, wanting to see the rest of the frogs' reactions to their female mirror images.


	10. Chapter 10

I know the cutoff for the last chapter was a little awkward, but if I hadn't cut off then the chapter would've continued for a really long time. But I made sure to post this one right afterward so that it would be continued. You can post questions about characters or the storyline, too, if something is unclear!

In The Basement…

They were all a few steps behind Kululu, and they heard him say, "Kukuku… They're here!"

A commotion followed his words, but he ignored it and turned to face the new team.

"Come on in! Kukuku…" he said, gesturing them into the room. Natsumi and Fuyuki were automatically suspicious of Kululu's good manners, but the new team didn't seem to notice, and walked into the room, except for Doriri, who jumped up to the top of the doorframe and hung down by her ankles.

As Natsumi and Fuyuki walked up behind them to enter the room too, the only sound that could be heard was Kululu's maniacal laughter.

They walked into the room, going around the girls, and inspected the frogs' faces. In all nine frogs who weren't laughing, a look of confusion, shock, and misbelieve filled their faces. Kululu's was gleeful.

"Kululu! What did you do this time?" Giroro asked accusingly, standing up and aiming a gun at him.

"Kukuku… For once, I didn't do anything! It was the Keronian government!" Kululu replied defensively.

"Are they robots? We're getting replaced by robots?" Tamama asked, getting up and prodding the girls with his fingers to see if they were made of metal. This did not make them happy.

"Don't touch me!" Gertrude said loudly, whizzing her sword out of her sheath and pointing it at the space between Tamama's eyes.

"Ah! Whoa, so wait, they're not robots?" Tamama asked, glancing at Kululu. Everyone turned to face him, once again expecting an answer.

"Kukuku… No, they're not robots. They're clones, actually!" Kululu informed the room.

"WHAT?" came the reply of every mouth in the room. Doriri fell from her hanging position in shock, but Tamomi managed to catch her. Doriri nodded her thanks silently.

Kululu laughed and began to explain.

"About three weeks before the invasion began, Maj. Gen. Kadada asked me to calculate our chances of success. They weren't exactly favorable. Kukuku… So, anyway, they cloned the DNA they have on store for all military personnel, tweaked a few chromosome pairs, and put them in speeded growth capsules. Kukuku… They raised them in slightly different ways, and voila! A much more efficient, female version of us! Kukuku…" Kululu explained, sounding like it was a rehearsed speech.

"So… They're us?" Tamama asked, staring down the sword still pointed at his face.

"Yep. Kukuku… No prizes if you can guess which one was cloned from your DNA!" Kululu replied.

"Wait. **Wait. **_**WAIT!**_ We are no one's clones!" exclaimed Kerora with her hands on her hips.

"Yes, you are! I have the files right here! Or, at least, illegally printed copies. Kukuku…" Kululu said, handing Kulala a stack of paper, knowing she'd be able to tell they weren't fakes. Her face grew pale as she skimmed the pages.

"H-he's telling the truth," she said shakily, looking up from the file.

"Although, I suppose if 'clones' is too weird for you, you can always refer to us as your 'siblings,' you know," Kululu said, and began to laugh again. Tamomi giggled, too.

"So, I have a brother?" she asked excitedly, still too young to fully appreciate the seriousness of the situation. Her gaze landed on Tamama, obviously her counterpart, and she ran over to give him a bear hug. Luckily, Tamama was also too young to fully understand.

"Um, she's me?" Tamama asked, bewildered.

"Kukuku… More or less! There will be obvious character differences, but genetically you're basically the same. Like identical twins. Kukuku…" Kululu said.


	11. Chapter 11

I know! Bad stopping place! I'm on it! I just thought it was getting a little long. Anyway, so now that the two groups have met the chapters will probably get longer. I think. It all depends. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the ensuing hilarity!

More Reactions…

Giroro frowned at the group of female frogs, Gertrude in particular. Said female was in the process of slowly lowering her sword away from Tamama's face.

"Cool!" exclaimed Keroro, marching over to Kerora to shake hands. She wasn't exactly thrilled by this.

"So wait… now we've got aliens, a ghost, _and_ clones?" Fuyuki asked. "Mom's going to have a field day!"

Doriri had jumped up onto the doorframe again, wanting to avoid the whole conversation.

Kulala looked at Kululu, and although she'd only known him for a few minutes, there was something she _really_ didn't like about him. This surprised her. She'd never really hated anyone before.

Throughout this whole scene, Natsumi and Fuyuki had just been too stunned to say anything. Tamama and Tamomi had begun chattering animatedly about some random nonsense, so it was obvious they were going to get along well.

For the next few minutes, Kulala just glared at Kululu, having thoughts she'd never had before. How to make him suffer…

Giroro and Gertrude, after a few minutes of just staring at each other, began debating whether swords or guns were the superior weapons. The debate quickly became a heated argument.

Dororo had jumped into the ceiling, and Doriri had followed, unseen by Dororo, which was surprising. Dororo didn't miss much. So when the soft sound of Doriri's voice emanated from behind him in the small space, he yelped and fell back through the gap in the ceiling tile.


	12. Chapter 12

I'm sorry about the small chapters. I don't have much time to write up my first drafts, so those are all segmented into small snippits, too. So, that's how the chapters are turning out! I hope you'll stick around! The chapters will get longer once my school gets out! Then my mom won't be able to get me off of the computer… Kukuku/Kakaka…

"So I'm you, I'm guessing?" she asked, causing Dororo's tumble.

"Ahh!" Dororo exclaimed, only barely managing to land on his feet when he twisted in midair.

Doriri stared down at him from his usual perch, not saying a word. The rest of the room grew silent and watched the pair with interest. The men were interested because Dororo rarely lost his balance, and the girls were watching only because Dororo's landing hadn't been as quiet as he'd hoped.

Doriri jumped down from the ceiling too, landing in a respectful bow in front of Dororo, her hands on her thighs.

"Sorry to have startled you," Doriri whispered, standing up out of her bow.

"Nothing to worry about," Dororo replied, studying the girl that was, in essence, him. The resemblance was rather unnerving.

Dororo expected a reply, but Doriri said nothing, merely moving over to sit out of the way by a wall.

"So, um, where are we sleeping? I would ask for a full tour, but that will have to wait until tomorrow. We were kind of shocked out of that mind frame," Kerora asked, breaking the awkward silence that Doriri had created.

"I can make sleeping arrangements for myself," Gertrude said, and with that she left the room to unpack.

"I'll go wherever Tamama goes!" Tamomi declared, squeezing her 'big brother' tight. He smiled. He was already warming up to her.

"I already have something prepared. Kakaka…" Kulala said, and ran out after Gertrude to get her little box.

"I guess I'll just have to build Kerora a room in the base, then. Kukuku…" Kululu said, and disappeared into the mini fridge to get to work.


	13. Chapter 13

Hello friends! Sorry it's been a while since I last posted! But I'm back and writing now, so let the hilarity resume! Also, I know everyone is taking it in stride, but seriously, stranger things have happened to them. I mean, really. If that's not good enough, just pretend there was an hour or two in the middle somewhere where they're all being hysterical. Except, of course, Kululu…

Dororo looked expectantly ay Doriri, expecting her to declare her sleeping arrangements as well. She remained silent, however. None of her team nor his seemed to notice this silence, but it bothered him. He saw much of himself in her, for obvious reasons. He wondered if she was left out, too.

Doriri was uncomfortable under Dororo's stare, but tried not to show it. Doriri rarely let anything show, emotion or thought. That's why she kept silent.

Dororo could sense she had a reason for not declaring her living arrangements, but decided to push the issue, anyway.

"And where are you staying, Doriri?" he asked loudly, so the whole room could hear. Instead of replying, she merely shrugged.

"Well, if you can't think of anywhere, you're welcome to come stay with Koyuki and me," Dororo told her, and disappeared once again into the ceiling.

Doriri watched him go, not really caring. All she really cared about was growing her own food and the successful completion of their mission. She also loved her solitude.

After a few minutes she went outside, walking past Gertrude setting up her tent, Giroro stewing angrily over his own tent, which had been flattened by their landing, and Kulala, frantically pushing buttons on her little box.

Doriri launched herself over the Hinatas' fence, turning her invisibility device on in midair. She probably wouldn't need it, she moved so fast, but it couldn't hurt to be cautious, right? Especially behind enemy lines.

She whizzed up onto the neighbor's roof and jumped from housetop to housetop towards a forest she saw on the edge of town. She'd learned early on to live in nature; she'd just make her own shelter in the forest.

When she reached the edge of the forest a few minutes later, she began to search for a suitable campsite.

By the time darkness was starting to creep up into the sky, Doriri still hadn't found a place to stay. She was getting irritated. Usually, in a forest this size, there'd be at least a few semi-comfortable campsites, but she hadn't had any luck.

Suddenly she walked into a clearing and found herself standing right in front of a small house, no more than one or two rooms. There was a water wheel turning in the stream out front. She could hear voices coming from inside.

Going into stealth mode, she crept silently toward the house. If she was going to attempt to live in the area, she'd want to know who she was going to have to hide from. For instance, professional trackers or hunters would be good people to avoid.

She jumped up onto the roof, landing soundlessly on the balls of her feet. She edged wordlessly towards the area of roof above the door, and heard a female voice talking.


	14. Chapter 14

Hiyas! Okay, I've been itching for a new anime to watch lately, and I can't seem to find anything. Any suggestions? Here's ones I liked:

Sgt. Frog(of course), InuYasha, Fruits Basket, Sands of Destruction, Black Butler, Ranma 1/2 , Ouran High School Host Club, Hikaru no Go, and a few others like that.

If you've got suggestions, give them! (Nothing above PG-13ish, please)

Now without further ado…

"Really, D? Your own clone? That's so cool!" the girl was saying. For a moment Doriri was confused. There were clones other than her and her comrades? Then another voice, male, answered, and Doriri realized where she was.

"It's a bit unnerving, actually," Dororo replied. "She's the only person I know who can actually sneak up on me. Most people, including you, I can hear coming from about a mile off."

Doriri grinned beneath her mask, then decided on the spur of the moment to take Dororo up on his offer. Quickly morphing her face back into its usual blank expression, she crawled over to the very edge of the roof. Not wanting to disturb their conversation, and partially to see if she could scare Dororo again, Doriri crawled down so she was upside down on their ceiling, then, spider-man style, climbed into the house until she was hanging above and behind Dororo.

When she sensed a pause in their conversation, Doriri released her hold on the ceiling and landed behind Dororo without a sound.

"Um… D?" the girl asked, staring behind him. Before Dororo had the chance to turn around, Doriri spoke.

"I have decided to take you up on your offer," she breathed, and Dororo jumped. The girl-Koyuki, had he called her?-stifled a giggle.

"Doriri!" Dororo exclaimed, breathing a sigh of relief.

_She's got to stop doing that!_ Dororo _**thought**_ to himself, his heart beating loudly.

"Sorry. I'll try to give you more advanced warning next time," Doriri _**replied**_, quiet as ever. Dororo froze.

_Did she just…? _ Dororo thought, trailing off in his mind.

"What?" Doriri asked.

_I knew it!_

"Knew what?" Doriri asked, being uncharacteristically loud.

_You're reading my mind,_ Dororo thought at her. Her eyes widened.

_Really?_ She asked in her mind, to see if he could read her thoughts, too.

_Yeah._ Dororo replied. Koyuki, who'd just been sitting there through that entire conversation just staring at them, was now really confused.

"What just happened?" she asked.

"It appears," Dororo replied excitedly, " That we can read each other's minds."

"Woah! No way!" Koyuki exclaimed. Doriri was also excited, despite herself. One less person she'd have to talk out loud to. Less talking! (Yes, a weird thing to be excited about)

"Well, Doriri, you can sleep over there," Koyuki said, shaking herself out of her shock. Doriri nodded her thanks and walked over to the sleeping mat they'd prepared in case she came, and laid down with her back to them. Koyuki glanced over at Dororo as if to ask, _How is she anything like you?_

"Well, she's somewhat shy, from what I gather," Dororo explained, and Koyuki frowned thoughtfully.


	15. Chapter 15

Sup, my peeps? This message was brought to you by Fuyuki's Curiosity by newanimefan, my OTHER Sgt. Frog fanfic. I highly recommend it! ;P

Elsewhere

"Momoka! I'm home and I brought my sister!" Tamama cried. He and Tamomi had quickly adopted the 'siblings' idea. Momoka rushed into the room.

"I didn't know you had a sister, Tamama!" she exclaimed excitedly.

"Well, she's not _technically _my sister…" Tamama said, frowning slightly. "Well, anyway, I'll bring her in, okay?"

Momoka nodded enthusiastically.

"Come on in, Tamomi!" Tamama said, opening the front door and grabbing Tamomi's hand. She'd been waiting outside.

"Wow! She looks just like you, Tamama!" Momoka exclaimed, glancing back and forth between the two nearly identical frogs.

"Because I'm him!" Tamomi exclaimed brightly, smiling wide and giving Tamama a big hug. Momoka was really confused, now.

"She's my clone!" Tamama explained.

"Woah, seriously?" Momoka asked as Tamomi let go of her 'big brother' to give her new cohabitator a squeeze, too.

"Yeah, and she's gonna stay here with me, okay?" Tamama asked. Momoka nodded, and the two frogs ran off so Tamomi could have a grand tour before bedtime.

"Paul, I have a plan!" Dark Momoka exclaimed, clenching her fist.

"And with this plan Fuyuki will have no choice but to fall in love with me!" she continued, and began laughing hysterically.

"Of course, Mistress," Paul said, a small sweat drop appearing on his head. Not again…


	16. Chapter 16

Back at the Hinatas'

Kulala grinned. Being tiny and weightless was fun. She'd finally managed to modify the box so that it would hold anything, not just gizmos, so she was now floating around inside her luggage. She loved being a genius. It also made her sleeping arrangements so easy. Her box didn't exactly take up much space. She'd just left it near Gertrude's tent. Now to figure out how to get out of the box…

Gertrude sighed, wiping sweat from her forehead. She'd set up her tent to the side of the house so she wouldn't have to wake up every morning and think she was looking in a mirror.

It was a good thing she was a battle-hardened warrior, or she'd be hysterical right now. (or, if you decided that that hour-long scene I talked about earlier actually happened, **still**)

Kululu had finished setting up Kerora's room, and it was perfect for her. Barbie posters everywhere, a full collection of the movies and a DVD player to watch them with, a book shelf full of fairy tale storybooks. Heaven.

If she'd known Kululu, she would've known to be suspicious…

On Tamomi's tour…

"And this is the theater! You can see all the latest releases, here!" Tamama told Tamomi, and she gasped in amazement. Behind her, Tamama's crazy inner self thought, _she'd better not be one of those people who always talk through movies!_

"Don't worry, Tamama! I would never do something like that! As long as the movies not sad, because then I'd be bawling right through it. I gave fair warning!" Tamomi replied, and Tamama stared at her.

"What?" Tamomi asked, grabbing his hand in both of hers. _What's wrong with him? Is he sick?_

_No I'm fine except you're reading my mind._

_COOL BEANS!_

_Cool beans?_

_It's my awesome phrase. I made it up!_

_This is so cool!_

_So cool __beans!_

_Yeah, sure, Tamomi._

The pair of excited frogs skipped back to their rooms, having a silent conversation.

As Giroro and Gertrude Prepare For Bed in Their Respective Tents

_I wonder if I'll dream about Natsumi again tonight…_ Giroro thought, blushing to himself as he remembered the last one. He'd relived Sumomo's attempt to humiliate him, only it was actually Natsumi doing it.

_Woah… Why am I randomly thinking about that Pekoponian girl?_ Gertrude wondered, shivering to herself. It hadn't even felt like her own thought!

"I think that's because it wasn't!" Giroro yelled from the back yard. Gertrude paled. No way…

In Kulala's Box/Room

_Well, since I've got sometime, maybe I should plan ways to torture Kululu. Maybe I could… _she proceeded to think of something so awful to imagine, even for Kululu, that in the bowels of the base, Kululu's glasses shattered in horror. (She thought it might be fun to erase all the data off of his computer)

_YOU WOULDN'T DARE!_ Kululu screamed in his head, putting on a new pair of glasses.

_How are you in my head?_

_It appears we can read each others thought. Interesting. Perhaps it's because we technically have the same brain?_

_Well, get out! I'm going to sleep, now, and I don't need your annoying voice keeping me up! _ Kulalal thought viciously, and closed her eyes, not that you could tell under her glasses, anyway.

Kululu spent the next several hours singing the song that never ends until Kulala eventually passed out from exhaustion.


	17. Chapter 17

So now the only pair that doesn't know is Keroro and Kerora! How will they find out?

In Kerora' Room

_I FINALLY got rid of that idiot! He's amusing to watch, but how does his team put up with that level of incompetence? _Kerora thought, rubbing her head. Keroro had started, or at least tried to start, a conversation every time that Kerora had tried to go down into the base to find her room and sleep.

Keroro turned over, already asleep. _No, Corporal! You don't have sufficient rank to criticize me!_ He thought heatedly, kicking the Dream Giroro in the face. He had strange dreams sometimes.

_Why would Gertrude criticize me? We're not best buddies by any means, but…_ Kerora thought, shaking her head. She didn't know why she'd thought that.

_No! You're basically the same person, Corporal! And what does that have to do with anything, anyway?_

_I'm not a corporal! I'm a sergeant, just like Keroro! Why do I keep thinking I'm a corporal?_

_Since when were you promoted, Giroro?_

_My name isn't Giroro! It's Kerora!_

_Kerora? Why are you in my dream in a Giroro suit?_

_What are you talking about? Who are you?_

_It's me, Keroro!_

_Why are you in my head? AHH! Will it never end?_

_This is just like episode 794 of Captain Geroro where he meets his sister and they speak telepathically the whole episode!_

_Whoo. GET OUT OF MY HEAD!_

_Woah, angry, aren't you? Are you always like this before bed?_

_Shut up. And leave me alone! I'm going to sleep, now!_

_Okay, bye!_

Kerora tried to stop thinking, her heart beating. Telepathy? This whole clone thing was getting weirder by the second!

She laid down in her bed and went to sleep almost instantly, being worn out from the day's craziness. That night she had a very annoying dream about Gundam models. She'd have to give Keroro a serious talking to.


	18. Chapter 18

Hi everyone! I keep getting great reviews and I'm glad you like it so much! My comments here have let me start another Sgt. Frog fanfic that has been getting equally good results! (It's called Fuyuki's Curiosity. Wink wink)

In the Forest

"D! You slept in today! It's almost five!" Koyuki exclaimed, shaking Dororo awake. Doriri was outside sitting on the roof meditating, as she had been for an hour or so. She was an early riser to say the least.

"Sorry, Koyuki. I've just been kind of shaken lately," Dororo said, sitting up. "Where's Doriri?"

Koyuki told him, and he was almost instantly up beside her.

"Good morning, Doriri," he said cheerfully. "Did you sleep well?"

Doriri nodded. _Very well, thank you for the hospitality._

"You're welcome. Do you want to come back with me to the Hinatas'? I'm sure the others will want to hear of our discovery and talk over everything that's happened. Also, you still need to have a tour. It is technically going to be your base, after all," Dororo said, standing up.

_I suppose._ Even in her thoughts, Doriri wasn't very wordy.

The two jumped quickly from rooftop to rooftop, and were soon at the Hinatas' house. They used Dororo's entrance and dropped into Keroro's room through the ceiling.

"Keroro! We have something we need to tell you!" Dororo said, calling to the still sleeping Sergeant.

"Ungh. Dororo, why are you waking me up so early? This had better be important!" Keroro said, annoyed that he'd been woken.

Dororo quickly explained about the telepathy thing.

"Yeah, I already knew that. Kerora and I can to it, too," Keroro replied, waving his hand dismissively.

"Really? Any idea why?" Dororo asked. Keroro shook his head, then held up a finger to get Dororo to stop talking. He looked like he was listening intently.

"Kerora wants to know if you want to trade clones. She doesn't seem to like my thoughts," Keroro informed Dororo, who chuckled. He didn't blame her.

"She's serious," Keroro said, irritated now.

"Of course she is," Dororo said, and Keroro stuck out his tongue at him.

"Wait… She's still asleep! She _dreams _about how much she hates me!" Keroro said in disgust.

Down in the Base Main Room

"Uncle! I'm back from my trip to visit my family!" Angol Mois called, in alien form. Keroro wasn't there, though. He was still talking to Dororo. Her yells, however, woke Kerora, who came running.

"Who's there?" Kerora called, walking into the room carefully.

"Don't be silly, uncle! It's me, Mois! Why are you wearing a dress?" Mois replied, looking confused. Kerora was more confused.

"Uncle? I'm a girl, thank you very much! And I'm in no way related to you, Angol girl!" Kerora exclaimed, suspicious.

"Well, if you're not Uncle then who are you? Because you sure look a lot like him!" Mois said, walking over and poking Kerora curiously.

"I'm Sgt. Kerora of the Female ARMPIT Replacement Team!" Kerora said, crossing her arms in annoyance.

"Why do you look like Uncle?" Mois asked.

"She's my clone, Mois! Isn't it cool?" Keroro exclaimed, putting his arm around her shoulder.

_Get off of me. NOW!_

Keroro quickly let go of Kerora's shoulder, and Mois looked confused for a moment before brushing it off. She didn't really care.

"So, should I call her Aunt?" Mois asked thoughtfully.


	19. Chapter 19

Hi, everyone! Sorry it's been a while since I posted! Thanks for all your glowing reviews, as well as everyone who favorite this story! I'm glad you're enjoying it!

Kerora tried to calm her pounding heart. Keroro's sudden appearance behind her had startled her half to death. She couldn't believe she was him! He was SO ANNOYING! How could she have been made from someone so lazy?

"Please don't," she said in response to Angol Mois's question. She didn't want to get any more tangled up in Keroro's life. In fact, she would be very happy if he would curl up and die in some corner so he wouldn't be in the way of their invasion.

Despite all the crazy things that had happened over the last twenty-four hours, Kerora hadn't forgotten their mission. None of them had. It had never been the plan to start right away, anyway. They were supposed to lure the Pekoponians into a false sense of security before striking.

Angol seemed disappointed that Kerora didn't like her stupid idea for a nickname, but didn't say anything. Keroro, oblivious as always, put on a huge grin.

"Welcome back, Mois! I've missed you!" he said, throwing his arms out dramatically in a gesture of happiness. His expression was nothing compared to Mois's, though. As Kerora looked at her, she was positively glowing with happiness, her aura beaming off of her in a rainbow. It hurt to look at. Keroro didn't seem to notice it, though.

"I'm so glad to hear you say that, Uncle!" Mois exclaimed, bending down on one knee to embrace Keroro.

Kerora had had enough, so she excused herself and went upstairs. Dororo, who had walked in behind Keroro unnoticed, followed her. Doriri had gone upstairs, although Dororo wasn't sure why, and Kerora seemed to be headed up, too.

Doriri, in an effort to be alone for as long as she could, walked into the kitchen of the Hinatas' house, still empty in the early morning. It wouldn't be long before Natsumi woke up to start fixing breakfast, but Doriri didn't know that. She sat in one of the chairs and sighed. Dororo's thoughts were so- anti-invasion. It was strange. It was his job, and he refused to do it. Then again, that's why they were here.

Gertrude woke with a start. Her throat was getting dry, so she went inside to get a drink. Stupid Pekopon. Why did it have to be so dry?

She walked into the kitchen and noticed Doriri sitting there. She took out her canteen, and started filling it in the sink.

"Drier than Keron here, huh?" Gertrude asked, bringing Doriri out of her thoughtful silence. For a second she stared at Gertrude, but then she remembered the telepathy thing only worked with Dororo. She'd already gotten used to talking silently.

Doriri nodded, still not wanting to say anything. For a moment Gertrude waited, trying to coax more of an answer out of Doriri, but it didn't work. Sighing, she sat down across from Doriri, chugging the water from her newly filled canteen. It soothed her throat, some.

At that moment, Kerora and Dororo appeared around the doorway. Doriri was partially glad that Dororo had come. She still like that she never had to talk to him.

"Kerora! I think we should talk about our invasion plans!" Gertrude said the moment Kerora had come into sight.

"Why don't we wait until the entire platoon has assembled, and we've had a good look at our new base," Kerora replied, chuckling slightly. Gertrude frowned, but didn't reply.

Dororo, his only real reason for coming accomplished, went back downstairs to check on Keroro.

Just then, Natsumi woke up and came downstairs to find the three girls sitting at the table. She stood there, stunned for a moment, before shaking herself out of it and walking into the kitchen to start on breakfast. She's shaken Fuyuki awake, but it could be ten minutes before he wrestled himself out of bed and into his school uniform.

In spite of herself, Gertrude felt herself getting angry at the pink-haired girl. She decided to say something.

"Could you _please_ stop being… I don't know… _you?_ I REALLY hate having to watch Giroro's dreams about you," Gertrude said, standing up on her chair to look at Natsumi from eye-level. Natsumi looked taken aback. One, because she hadn't known about the whole telepathy thing, and two, because apparently Giroro dreamed about her. She stared blushing madly. Her blush, however, was nothing compared to that of the recently awoken frog sitting in his tent. He'd heard every word through Gertrude's ears.

_HOW COULD YOU TELL HER THAT! If she found out how I feel… I'd die. I really would. So SHUT UP!_ Giroro yelled at her, and she flinched. She'd thought he was still asleep. His morning daydreams were basically the same as his dreams.

"Just kidding," she said unconvincingly. Natsumi grimaced. She _hoped_ she'd been kidding. That would just be… weird. I mean, she definitely liked Giroro the best out of the frogs, but still… not like that. And he didn't like her that way either. It was impossible. All he cared about was conquering. Although…

She began flashing back to all the times that the rest of the platoon had picked on Giroro. Especially the Sumomo hidden camera thing. Hadn't that been about her? She shook her head. There must be some other explanation.


	20. Chapter 20

Yay! 20th chapter! I honestly didn't think I would make it this far! I'm excited! Anyway, Natsumi's FINALLY started to figure out that Giroro feels for her! But how will she react? I will answer that eventually, but probably not in this chapter. This chapter is the one you've all been waiting for. Or, if YOU weren't, I was. Gertrude's experience that bonds her with Giroro. Oh, the budding of romance… Bwahahaha… Kukuku…

After that little incident, the morning went along relatively uneventfully. Aki hadn't returned from work the night before, so they didn't need to worry about that quite yet. Fuyuki and Natsumi left for school, and FART was finally given a tour of their base, after Tamama and Tamomi showed up and Kululu and Kulala stopped their vicious mind-comments after waking up.

Eventually, the ARMPIT Platoon went about their daily business, and FART got down to business. Sort of.

"Okay, girls. Go do whatever you think appropriate to complete the first step of our mission; lure the Pekoponians into a false sense of security," Kerora ordered, and Gertrude rolled her eyes.

"I think that they already trust us more than they should. Since we have the opportunity, and the house to ourselves, we should strike now!" she argued, slamming her fist down on a coffee table in Kerora's room.

"I'm in charge, Gertrude. Just for a few weeks, and then we'll get started, I promise," Kerora said. This wasn't good enough for Gertrude, however, so after the meeting was over she went up to Kulala and told her the plan. Kulala was all for it so she pulled out her laptop and hacked into Kululu's files. He was about to object, hearing Kulala's thoughts, but then he heard what they were up to he just grinned.

Giroro didn't stop them either, because he was all for it. It was exactly what he would've done. Actually, he did do it, but that wasn't the point.

"Here you go," Kulala said, handing Gertrude the laptop. On it were Kululu's files on the Hinatas.

(To understand this next part, realize that Kululu puts all of his files under false names to confuse anyone who tries to hack in. Kulala and Gertrude don't know this. The file entitled 'Natsumi Hinata' is actually information on Fuyuki, and the file entitled 'Fuyuki Hinata' is actually Natsumi's information)

Gertrude clicked on the file about the pink-haired girl, Natsumi. A list of traits popped up, and by the looks of it, she wasn't a threat at all. Her only good attribute was that she was especially observant and a great detective and that wouldn't be much of a problem. The she clicked on the Fuyuki boy's file.

Her eyes widened fearfully. Athletic, smart, temperamental. He sounded dangerous. She'd have to take him out now, before he interfered with their invasions. She closed the laptop and set to work, setting up booby traps all over the house, mostly concentrated in his room. Now she just had to wait.

Before long, he was home. Natsumi had stayed behind to give the soccer team pointers, again, so Fuyuki was all alone. Fuyuki completely avoided all of her traps downstairs, going straight up to his room. He opened the door and was instantly caught in a trap and had swords pointed at him. Gertrude stared at him with cold, heartless eyes.

"AH! DON'T HURT ME!" Fuyuki yelled, cowering under the net he was trapped under. He started bawling. Obviously, Gertrude's information had been faulty. There was no way he was 'athletic, smart, or temperamental.' She was about to dispose of his anyway, but his cries tugged at her heartstrings. He was so helpless and weak…

Her heart started thumping loudly in her ribcage, and her face heated up. Thinking fast, she tried to cover up her attack.

"You'd think that you'd be used to this kind of thing by now. Don't they do field exercises with you on a regular basis?" she asked gruffly. Thankfully, he seemed to buy it.

"Wait… you weren't going to hurt me?" he sniffled, sitting up. She threw the net off of him.

"Of course not, silly Pekoponian boy," she replied. _I could never hurt you Fuyuki Hinata. I… I love you._


	21. Chapter 21

See what I mean? VERY similar first experiences, huh? I wonder how Momoka would react if she found out… Well, I'll address that later. Here we go…

_WHAT!_ Giroro screamed inside her head.

_Carp, you heard that._ Gertrude thought, mortified. Fuyuki gave her a weird look. She waved down his look of concern and left the room.

_Carp?_ Giroro asked, thought-laughing at her sudden crush.

_Yes. It's 'crap' with some letters switched around. And stop laughing! You are SO not one to be talking Mr. Natsumi Obsession!_ She yelled at him in her thoughts. His thoughts shut up.

_Fine. I won't tell him if you don't tell Natsumi, deal?_ Giroro suggested, eager to get rid of any chance of Natsumi finding out.

_Deal._ Gertrude agreed, breathing a sigh of relief. Her secret was safe. Fuyuki really was so cute and innocent though…

_Ugh. _

_Oh, be quiet. It's exactly what _you_ sound like!_

Gertrude took down the rest of her traps, trying to keep her mind off Fuyuki. She couldn't let her feelings for him get in the way of her invasion!

_Heh. Good luck with _that_! _Giroro thought sadly. _No matter how hard you try, it'll always be in the way. Trust me. I speak from experience._


	22. Chapter 22

Hi, everyone! So, yeah, GertrudexFuyuki! I figured she can't be Giroro in girl form unless she has a crush! And she and Giroro have formed a pact not to tell anyone. But, of course, Fuyuki is going to be, like, the only one who doesn't know. This chapter is where you find out what Momoka's plan is!

After school, Momoka had gone straight hometo begin preparations for her plan. She'd somehow managed to grab a piece of Fuyuki's hair without him noticing, so she had his DNA. And she'd gotten Kululu to come over to help. Normally, she'd hire a bunch of world-renowned scientists and spent billions of dollars, but then she realized that Kululu would do it for free, because he thought it would be funny.

She handed him the little glass vial with Fuyuki's hair, and he put it into his machine. A little humming and whirring later, and there stood a clone of Fuyuki. She grinned evilly.

"Thanks, Kululu. Now all I have to do is replace the real Fuyuki with this clone and take him to a tropical island and act like we shipwrecked! Then, when he thinks we're the only two people there, he'll be sure to fall for me!" Dark Momoka said, clenching her fist. Kululu laughed.

"Whatever you say, Momoka. Glad I could help with your deluded romance," he said, and packed up his stuff to leave. What was all this talk about romance? The clone Fuyuki looked really confused.

His expression, however, was nothing compared to the real Fuyuki's, frozen in shock as he poured over an occult book. WHAT! But girls never liked him! And since when could he read minds? And whose mind was he reading!

(Which is funny that he thinks that girls wouldn't like him, because at this point he has Momoka, Gertrude, and that reporter girl all crushing on him.)


	23. Chapter 23

So once again, Momoka takes her one-sided romance to the extremes. And Fuyuki finally figures out that Momoka loves him! By the way, Fuyuki's clone has all of Fuyuki's memories. It actually thinks it IS Fuyuki. Sorry it took me so long to post!

"NATSUMI!" Fuyuki exclaimed, stunned out of his mind and frozen in shock. She came charging up the stairs as fast as she could, bursting into his room.

"What is it, Fuyuki? What did the stupid frog do this time?" she exclaimed, balling up her fists.

"Um, I don't know. Maybe nothing. Except I think I just read someone's mind," Fuyuki said.

"What? Who's?" Natsumi exclaimed, eyes going wide.

"That's just it, though. I have no idea!" Fuyuki said.

"Weird! It must have been the frogs' doing! What did they think?" Natsumi asked, quickly resuming her agitated posture.

"Well… Something about kidnapping me and making me theirs… but it was like they were listening to someone else say it, and it was really weird!" Fuyuki said, resting his forehead on the edge of his desk. Natsumi rolled her eyes.

"Well I don't know who's mind you were reading, but I think I have a fair idea of who was talking," Natsumi said. She'd hung around with Momoka enough to pick up on the whole Fuyuki thing.

"Really? Who?" Fuyuki asked, sitting up again. At that moment, someone attacked Natsumi from behind and knocked her out. Before Fuyuki could do anything, one of Momoka's agents flung him over his shoulder and jumped out Fuyuki's bedroom window into a helicopter. The Fuyuki clone was left behind. He rushed over to Natsumi.

"Natsumi!" he exclaimed, shaking her. She roused. "Are you all right!"

Meanwhile, Fuyuki was steadily getting further and further away…


	24. Chapter 24

Sorry! Wow, I haven't updated in FOREVER! I've been busy working on an original work, and I got really distracted… Anyway, I'm back now, and I'll try to make it up to you, okay? Here we go!

Natsumi awoke to see Fuyuki kneeling over her, looking worried. She sat up quickly, putting a hand to a large bump on her head.

"Owww!" she exclaimed, rubbing it gingerly. Fuyuki looked relieved that she'd woken up.

"What happened?" Natsumi asked. Fuyuki shrugged.

"The attacker left the second you went down. I didn't see his face. Sorry, Natsumi," he replied, looking ashamed. Natsumi shook her head.

"It's not your fault. I'm going to go around locking all the doors and windows, though. I do NOT want anyone else getting in!" she exclaimed, standing up.

"Before I go, are you absolutely sure you have no idea who's mind you were reading?" Natsumi asked. Fuyuki looked at her like she was crazy.

"What are you talking about? How hand did your head get hit, exactly?" Fuyuki asked. Natsumi sighed.

"Fine, if you don't want to talk about it. I'm going to go lie down," Natsumi said, and left the room.

Fuyuki's clone sat down on the bed, thinking how easily the memories came to him, memories that weren't his, but this boy's, Fuyuki's. Was it right to take this life away from him for the sake of his master? Miss Momoka had given him life, but he still didn't feel right about this.

He didn't have much time to brood, however, before Kulala walked in.

"Nice to meet you," she said. The clone Fuyuki jumped.

"How did you know…?" he exclaimed, jumping up.

"Calm down, kid. I can read Kululu's thoughts, remember? So this Momoka girl has a crush on Fuyuki, huh? Interesting…" she said, crossing her arms. (She'd heard that Giroro had a crush on Natsumi from Kululu's head, and guessed that, as the same person, Gertrude would be similar. She's already figured out that Gertrude likes Fuyuki)

"I'm Fuyuki, too, you know. I have all the same memories, basically, and mostly the same personality. No one should be able to tell," he said, sitting back down.

"Well, as long as Momoka doesn't plan on keeping Fuyuki away too long, I don't have any problem with this. Keep an eye on Fuyuki's thoughts for me, will you? If it becomes too much for him, I'll arrange a rescue. Okay?" she asked. The clone Fuyuki nodded.

Meanwhile, on a helicopter headed out over the open sea, the real Fuyuki awoke to see Momoka kneeling over him. She was going to pretend they'd both been kidnapped, but in reality she was behind the whole thing.

"Fuyuki, are you all right?" Momoka asked, blushing as she touched his hand. Fuyuki sat up, nodding.

"They got you, too, Momoka? Who are they?" he asked.

"I don't know! But I'm so frightened!" she said, grabbing his arm as if for comfort, her heart beating loudly.

"Don't worry, Momoka. I'm sure that, together, we can find our way out of this!" he said, comforting her. Her stomach fluttered. This was going so well already!

The helicopter began to descend onto a small tropical island, completely devoid of human life. A masked man with a suspiciously familiar moustache came in.

"Here. These are your provisions. We're abandoning you here for about a week and a half. We'll be back, then," he said in a strangely familiar voice. He handed them each a backpack, then pushed them out of the helicopter, into the sand, and then the helicopter took off, leaving the pair stranded with only the contents of their packs.

"He's strangely polite for a kidnapper. And why'd he put us here anyway if he plans to come back? And I SWEAR I've seen that moustache somewhere," Fuyuki said, frowning up at the helicopter as it flew away.

"Well, there's nothing we can do about it now," Momoka said, hurriedly changing the subject. "We should see what we have to live on for the next week and a half."

"Agreed. We don't have much of a choice but to try and survive, and it'll be better to know what we have to work with," Fuyuki said. Momoka nodded. She didn't even know what Paul had packed for her, so she could preserve the sense of adventure.

Fuyuki set his pack on the ground, and Momoka rushed to do the same. Carefully unzipping their bags and dumping the contents onto the sandy beach. In Fuyuki's pack, there was a fire starting kit, a single sleeping bag, an empty canteen, some iodine tablets, and a bag of beef jerky. In Momoka's bag, there were a change of clothes for each of them, a bar of soap, a flashlight, and the same food and drink things Fuyuki had. There was also a knife for each of them and a large piece of fabric.

"Why'd we only get one sleeping bag? They do realize there are two of us, right?" Fuyuki asked. Momoka shrugged.

"Well, you'd better take it, Momoka. I'll be alright. Let's go try to find some shelter, all right?" he asked, holding out his hand for her. Blushing slightly, she accepted it, and they took off into the trees.

They were walking for no more than ten minutes or so before they found a suitable place, so Fuyuki instructed Momoka to find some large, flat leaves, some vines, and a freshwater stream, while he looked for dry wood in order to build a fire with.

"Wouldn't it be better if we stuck together?" Momoka asked, clenching her hands together and half-rotating her upper body, embarrassed.

"You're right, Momoka. Good idea," Fuyuki said, and they set off together deeper into the forest.


	25. Chapter 25

I'm half tempted to switch to talking about different people entirely, but I've already decided that only one or two interesting things happen back home while Fuyuki and Momoka are on the island, and neither is happening at this moment, so I'm going to keep writing about Fuyuki and Momoka.

Momoka was sweating in the heat by the time they got back to their campsite with all the things Fuyuki had deemed necessary. They placed the things down in piles, and Fuyuki began instructing Momoka on the assembly of a canopy that would keep out rain.

"And we use the vines to tie these two leaves like that. Yeah, that's right. And then this one onto there," Fuyuki instructed, his hands guiding hers as she struggled to stay conscious. This was already her favorite plan so far, and they had only been on the island for a few hours! Fuyuki set up the canopy, then placed everything underneath it.

"Hey Momoka, since we don't really need it for anything else, can I use the fabric as makeshift bedding?" he asked.

"Huh? Oh, of course. Why'd you feel the need to ask me?" Momoka said, shaken out of her daydream.

"Well, we have to work together to stay alive, so I thought that you should have a say on how we use our resources. We're a team!" Fuyuki explained. Momoka's heart fluttered.

"So, now what do we need to do?" Momoka asked. Fuyuki shrugged.

"I think we've done everything strictly necessary for survival, although it might be a good idea to set up some protection against wild animals," Fuyuki said. Momoka nodded.

"I hope we don't run into any snakes," she said nervously, glancing around.

"It's possible. This is a good climate for them," Fuyuki said, oblivious to Momoka's discomfort. She squeaked, and her eyes started tearing up. Fuyuki realized his mistake.

"Are you ophidiophobic?" Fuyuki asked. Momoka looked at him blankly.

"Afraid of snakes?" Fuyuki clarified. Momoka nodded. Fuyuki laid a hand on her arm sympathetically.

"Don't worry. I'll keep you safe, Momoka. I promise," Fuyuki said. Momoka's inner self did a fist pump, but Momoka merely blushed.

"Good thing I'm not , or I would have freaked out when you asked if I was ophidiophobic," Momoka said, grinning at him. He grinned back.

"Ophidiophobic isn't that long. The longest word I know is ...isoleucine

(Sorry, I had to shorten the word MAJORLY in order to fit it on the page… copy and paste it into google if you want to see what it means((or if you want to see if you can overload and destroy google. That works too)))

Fuyuki was panting by the time he'd finished. Momoka was impressed he hadn't passed out. He'd been talking for nearly five hours, now.

"How do you even REMEMBER that? And how are you not an athlete with those lungs?" Momoka asked, eyeing the sky, which had darkened during Fuyuki's speech. Fuyuki shrugged, wheezing.

"Well, drink something before you go to sleep," Momoka said. "I don't want you dying of dehydration on me! I think it's time to turn in, do you?" Fuyuki nodded, taking a hearty swig from his canteen. A pause, then another.

"Are you sure you don't want the sleeping bag, Fuyuki?" Momoka asked. Fuyuki nodded.

"You should have it. I have to be manly sometimes, and what better time than when my best human friend's life is in danger. If only one of us gets out of this, it's going to be you, Momoka," Fuyuki said.

"Don't talk like that! We're both going to make it! I'll see you in the morning," Momoka said, sliding into her sleeping bag with her back turned to him so he couldn't see her blushing.

"Yeah," Fuyuki said, thinking hard. How had Momoka been so patient with him? The last time he'd tried to tell his mom, she'd only listened to the first dozen syllables before accusing him of making it all up and moving on. Fuyuki was up late contemplating what made Momoka so patient with him.

About an hour later, Momoka turned over in her sleep, a single word escaping her mouth as she dreamt.

"Fuyuki…" she said, and settled into her new position. Fuyuki blushed. So he hadn't remembered wrong. He already knew Momoka was behind this somehow from the telepathic communication with… whoever it was… but he hadn't believed that she liked him until then. All this to try and win him over?

Well, at the very least, he had to admire her determination!


	26. Chapter 26

And, now on to one of the IMPORTANT things that happen elsewhere… I'm glad I've finally got into the swing of writing!

Aki's eyes drooped, but she shook her head to keep herself awake. One of her subordinates walked over.

"Miss Hinata, you've been here for days. We've almost finished up, anyway. Go home. I'm sure your kids are missing you. And you look like you're about to pass out," he said, and Aki nodded. It had been too long since she'd been home…

She packed up the things she needed to take home with her, put them into her backpack, and walked outside. She hopped onto her motorcycle, and with a zoom she was off. She got home relatively quickly, and she was home just in time for dinner.

As she walked through the front gate and up the sidewalk, she heard, vaguely muffled through the door, "Act natural! Mom's home!" It was Natsumi's voice, and she sounded excited about something. Aki's head throbbed. They'd BETTER not have brought home ANOTHER stupid animal again!

"What's going on?" she asked as she walked through the front door. Natsumi and Fuyuki were blocking the hallway, and she heard some scuffling and whispers in the kitchen. So the frogs were in on it, then. Aki sighed.

"Nothing much. I made some dinner, if you're hungry. Its beef stew!" Natsumi said. Fuyuki seemed to be barely containing his glee.

Maybe it wasn't an animal, then. They would hardly be excited for her to see an animal they were trying to hide. A welcome home party? It was possible, but she doubted it. Then what could it be?

Cautiously, Aki made her way into the kitchen. All the frogs were at the table, which was strange in and of itself. They didn't usually all gather for meals. Then she looked harder, and sat down hard on the ground.

"But…" she said, mentally checking off the frogs as she stared into each face. Keroro, Tamama, Giroro, Kululu, Dororo… and Keroro, Tamama, Giroro, Kululu, and Dororo again! What was going on?

"Mom, let me introduce them!" Fuyuki said, grinning. "This is Kerora, Tamomi, Gertrude, Kulala, and Doriri. They're the Platoon's clones! Cool, huh?" Aki's eyes lit up, just as Fuyuki, and therefore clone Fuyuki, knew they would. Aki stood up and walked over to closer inspect the girls, who were slightly uncomfortable with meeting a new Pekoponian.

"This is just the added flare we needed to keep our story running! This is just perfect!" she exclaimed, picking up Tamomi and squeezing her. Being Tamomi, she squeezed right back. The rest of the team looked on in silent shock. That was not the reaction they were expecting. The platoon, however, was used to Aki by now, so they took no notice.

"So, I mostly just have one question," Aki said.

"Where exactly is Fuyuki?"

Kululu and Kulala's glasses shattered, and the Fuyuki clone paled visibly.

"Um, right here, mom," he said, hoping she just hadn't noticed him, somehow.

"No, the real one!"


	27. Chapter 27

So, that wasn't exactly how I originally thought that chapter would go. At first, I thought that I would just leave it at Aki finding out about the team, but then I decided, about halfway through typing the chapter, that Aki's motherly instinct would allow her to see through the Fuyuki clone. So, now I have to keep typing about that… But I'll get back to Fuyuki and Momoka next chapter!

"What do you mean, mom?" Natsumi asked, eyeing the Fuyuki clone, who was sweating profusely and twitching.

"I'm Fuyuki," he said weakly, his mouth going dry. Aki shook her head, frowning.

"Am I really the only one who noticed? The real question is where Fuyuki went," she said.

"You're not Fuyuki? Could've fooled me," Natsumi said.

"But that's impossible. How could you tell it wasn't him? Kukuku…" Kululu asked.

"Motherly instinct, I guess. I take it you were in on this?" Aki asked.

"Kukuku… you could say that. I was the one who cloned him. Although I was hired to do it, so you can't really blame me," he said, shrugging.

"No, blame him all you want. He did it willingly. Didn't even get paid. He did it because he wanted to, so you can totally blame him," Kulala said, and Kululu shot her the evil eye.

"I don't care who's to blame, I just want Fuyuki back," Aki said. She glanced at the clone Fuyuki. "No offense to you, or anything."

Stunned out of any coherent words, the Fuyuki clone merely shook his head.

"So where is Fuyuki, anyway?" Aki asked Kululu, who shrugged.

"I wasn't let in on that part. I was just in charge of cloning him. He might know, though," Kululu said, gesturing absently at the Fuyuki clone.

"All I know is it's somewhere tropical," Fuyuki managed to force out. "I can read his thoughts, to some degree, and that's all I've been able to pick up… Other than that Mistress Momoka's plan is starting to have an effect."

Kululu and Kulala started laughing.

"Wait. Momoka?" Aki exclaimed, wide-eyed. Natsumi sighed.

"Mom, have you seriously never noticed that she's obsessive?" Natsumi asked. "I mean, Fuyuki's the only one too naïve to realize she's head over heels for him."

The group nodded as a whole. Aki sighed.

"So Momoka's the one who kidnapped him?" she asked. Kululul, Kulala, and Fuyuki nodded.

"Hey Kululu, do you still have the Aki-bot?" Aki asked, getting a glint in her eye.

"Kukuku… Maybe I do, maybe I don't. Why do you want to know?" he replied. But before he'd finished his sentence, Aki had disappeared down into the bowels of the base.


	28. Chapter 28

So, now back to Momoka and Fuyuki! Let's see what they're up to, eh?

Momoka yawned and stretched, blinking in the early morning sunlight. She could hear a distant crash of waves against the shore, and could smell something burning. She sat bolt upright.

"Don't worry, Momoka!" Fuyuki exclaimed, walking back through the trees. "I've gathered some driftwood and made a signal fire. I think it's big enough that someone might notice. I know that the kidnappers said they'd be back, but I'd rather try to get off now."

"Well, I'm glad that the fire wasn't anything to worry about," Momoka said. Fuyuki grinned at her.

"What?" Momoka asked, her heart fluttering a little before she managed to calm it down.

"Nice bedhead," Fuyuki chuckled. Momoka blushed madly and clasped her hands over her hair, trying to hide it.

"I'll go try to find some fruit or roots or something to eat," Fuyuki said, still smiling slightly. He walked off.

Desperately finger-combing her hair, Momoka got out of the sleeping roll and surveyed the rest of her. She was still kind of sweaty and gross from yesterday's labors, but for the moment there wasn't much she could do about that.

She did think about changing, but she realized that if the two pairs of clothes she had were supposed to last a week and a half, she wouldn't be able to change whenever she got hot. Sighing, she sat down. At that moment, Fuyuki came back.

"I found some food!" Fuyuki said. It was mostly stereotypical tropical island food, coconuts and such, but it was all things Momoka recognized from meals with her father.

They ate slowly, relishing the small amount of time where they had something specific to do. When they were done, Fuyuki flopped back down on his makeshift bed.

"Tired or bored?" Momoka asked. Fuyuki grinned.

"Both," he answered. He sat up again, stretched, and spoke.

"So, what should we do now? We don't need to worry about food or water, and if we haven't run into any wildlife yet, I don't think we will. So, basically, we've got nothing to do. Any ideas?" he asked. Normally Momoka would be uber-flustered that he was asking her opinion, but her time alone with Fuyuki was already making her less awkward around him.

"Well, I would say we could go swimming, but we don't have suits. At least, I don't think we do. Do we?" she asked. Fuyuki shook his head sadly.

"I can't swim, anyway, remember?" he replied.

"Well, we could still wade in the surf, right? Just roll up our pant legs and walk along the beach?" Momoka suggested. Fuyuki smiled.

"Sounds great, Momoka. Good idea!" he replied, and they began the short walk back to the beach.

Momoka saw Fuyuki's signal fire, still burning tall and steady, and they gave it a wide berth, not wanting to get singed.

They spent the next several hours splashing each other, building sandcastles, laughing, and just running around, stopping only for a quick lunch.

Then the sun started to go down. The sky turned vibrant reds and oranges, and the beach turned a beautiful peach color. A silent, thoughtful mood swept over the pair of them, and they sat side by side, watching the sunset, each utterly silent.

When Momoka stood up and started walking along the beach, Fuyuki followed without a word. By the time the sky had completely darkened, they had managed to walk around the entire perimeter of the small island. For a while they sat near Fuyuki's signal fire, which was starting to die.

Eventually, sounding like he didn't want to break the mood, Fuyuki suggested, "Let's add some fuel to the fire and turn in. It's getting late." Momoka nodded, unusually silent for a change. They gathered dry driftwood from along the nearby beach, and upon tossing it onto the fire, were pleasantly surprised by the vibrant blue-green color the flames took on.

"Cool! That'll be the salts left behind by evaporating sea water!" Fuyuki said excitedly. Momoka, standing just behind him, smiled at him, although he couldn't see her.

"Hey Fuyuki?" Momoka asked.

"What is it, Momoka? Is something wrong?" he asked, turning around. She shook her head.

"Not at all. I just wanted to know, do you want to trade off nights with the sleeping bag? I don't mind," Momoka said. Fuyuki shrugged.

"I don't mind the blanket, really. But I suppose if you really want to, it's all right with me. Are you hungry? It's probably time to break out the provisions," Fuyuki said.

"Dinner sounds good!" Momoka exclaimed, sounding surprised despite herself. She'd been having such a wonderful time that she hadn't noticed when she'd started getting hungry. Fuyuki half-nodded. He knew how she felt.

Slowly, they made their way back to their makeshift campsite, their trail lit by the full moon that was shining brightly overhead, both wishing that the day didn't have to end.


	29. Chapter 29

Now back to Japan, for the second important thing that happens… Although it's short.

Aki found the Aki-bot in perfect working condition within half an hour, and she began to prepare for launch. Everyone but Gertrude hopped in with her, but Gertrude was preparing a rescue of her own.

Launching, they flew straight for the Nishizawa manor. They landed, and Aki hopped out of the Aki-bot.

"PAUL!" she yelled loudly. The man came out, sweating slightly.

"Yes, may I help you?" he asked nervously. Aki grabbed the scruff of his neck and pulled him so they were nose to nose.

"Where…is…my…son?" she asked, slowly and deliberately. Paul flinched. He acknowledged that Aki was stronger than he could ever be, with or without the moustache.  
>"I've sworn not to tell! He'll be back soon! But you'll have to wait. I'm sorry for the inconvenience!" Paul said resolutely.<p>

Half an hour later….

Paul, with a black eye, bloody nose, split lip, and possibly with something broken, had finally given in to, uh, 'reason.'

After weeding the coordinates out of Paul, the group set off to the small island. Paul watched them go.

"I'm sorry, Mistress Momoka. I have failed in my duty," he said, and blacked out.


	30. Chapter 30

So, a rescue is on the way. Will Momoka's plan be foiled again? Let's find out! (Or, more accurately, now YOU'LL find out. As the author, I have special privileges and already know what's going to happen. I'm just psychic like that and can read my own mind. I'm excited for this chapter!)

Fuyuki was actually starting to enjoy being on the island with Momoka, and he could tell that she'd mellowed out a little bit. He'd read whoever it was's mind and knew that there was a rescue party, and he almost wished they would take their time getting here.

Momoka was still asleep when he woke up, and she'd burrowed thickly into the blanket, which she seemed to enjoy more than the sleeping bag. Fuyuki suspected it had something to do with the blanket smelling like him, but he didn't want to think about that. It was too strange a thought.

He didn't have any particular desire to do anything, so he sat under a nearby tree until Momoka woke up a few minutes later.

"Oh, Fuyuki! How long have you been up?" Momoka asked, self conscious to wake to him watching her. She automatically started finger-combing her hair.

"Not long," he replied, shrugging awkwardly.

"Oh, all right. Breakfast, then?" Momoka suggested. Fuyuki nodded. They pulled out the beef jerky and canteens and ate that, then refilled the canteens with water and went to the beach again.

Once they got down to the beach, they looked for a while and found some tidal pools, full of starfish and urchins. They enjoyed the natural aquariums, and spent a good chunk of the morning admiring their beauty. Eventually, the sun was getting a bit warm on their backs, so Momoka started heading for the shade of the trees. Fuyuki stopped her.

"I have a better idea!" he said.

Soon they were burying themselves in wet sand, and of course, it worked! It was surprisingly comfortable, and Momoka almost drifted off, despite the sun in her eyes. Fuyuki was the first to get up.

"Hmm. Maybe I should have thought that through more. We're going to need to change," Fuyuki said sheepishly. Momoka stood up and couldn't agree more. There was sand everywhere!

After grabbing her set of clothes and running off to find a secluded place to change, Momoka noticed that Paul had packed a swimsuit and stuck it between her top and her shorts. She was slightly irritated that she hadn't noticed it earlier, and looking it over, she realized it looked a lot like her More Peach Summer Snow dress, only slightly more form-fitted until the waist-line, and the sleeves were longer and had her signature poof to them. The skirt went over the swimsuit.

Deciding it was as appropriate a thing to wear to the beach as any, Momoka put it on instead and put the clothes back at the campsite before heading out to the beach, where Fuyuki was waiting for her. He had also found a pair of swim trunks, which he'd put on.

"You too, huh?" Fuyuki asked. Momoka nodded.

"It's times like this that I really wish I could swim," Fuyuki said wistfully.

"Want to wade out again?" Momoka asked. "You can get pretty deep before you have to start swimming." Fuyuki nodded, and they began walking out into the surf together. Once Fuyuki couldn't go any further without risking drowning, at around waist-level, they stopped and looked out over the horizon. It seemed to go on forever. Fuyuki was slightly homesick, but when he thought about leaving, he got this weird feeling in the pit of his stomach.

His hand found hers under the water, and her heart almost stopped. She looked at him, startled. He smiled.

"Make sure I don't drift away, alright?" he asked. Momoka nodded, blushing. After a while, they went back towards land, Fuyuki still gripping her hand tightly.

When they got to shore, Fuyuki relinquished her hand, though he seemed reluctant. 'Making progress!' Momoka thought.

They ate something, then lounged around the campsite for a while, doing nothing in particular. When it started getting closer to sunset, they went back to the beach, but this time walked straight to a small cliff they'd noticed on their trip around the island the night before. It almost directly faced the sun, and they watched it go down, mostly in silence. Before it disappeared, Momoka spoke.

"Fuyuki?" she said.

"Yeah? What is it?" Fuyuki replied.

"Well, nothing really, it's just… Being here is starting to be fun, you know? It's strange, but I half don't want to go home," Momoka said, though she felt strange voicing it.

"I feel the same way. I'm glad we're having this chance to get to know each other better," Fuyuki said. Momoka blushed.

"You think?" she said. He nodded. In the lighting, Momoka was having a hard time not confessing, which was a strange thing for her. She wanted to get the weight of it off her chest. And so… _she did._

"Fuyuki?" she said slowly. "I… I like you. A lot. Oh my gosh, I can't believe I actually said it!" she said, all her bravery leaving her, and she put her head between her knees, her eyes tearing up. What if he hated her, now?

Fuyuki was silent for a while, strengthening Momoka's fears. But eventually he spoke.

"I'm glad you did. It's nice to know where I stand. And, you know, Momoka. I think that maybe… _I'm starting to feel the same way._"

Acting on impulse, he kissed her on the cheek, then stood up and walked away quickly, leaving them both with burning cheeks and racing hearts.


	31. Chapter 31

First of all, sorry for the break between updates. There were two major reasons for my lapse this time. First of all, end-of-the-school-year assessment tests. Also, the computer that I use got a virus and had to be sent in for repairs, so I haven't been able to type. Momoka finally confessed! And Fuyuki is finally starting to like her back! I've always been a Fuyu+Momo fan. Some of you are probably wondering why I introduced a 'rival' (Gertrude) if I support Fuyuki and Momoka. Well, the simple answer is that it makes it interesting! Getrude's love is doomed, she knows it's doomed, and all this just makes her situation more and more like Giroro's! Well, sort of. Anyways, back to the Aki-bot! This'll be a long chapter… I'll get back to Gertrude in the next couple of chapters.

As the rescue party neared the little island, Natsumi caught sight of Fuyuki's signal fire, still burning in the distance. The coloring from the salt was gone by now.

"Look, Mom! Over there! That must be them!" Natsumi said, pointing. They flew over and landed loudly on the beach next to the fire. Aki jumped out, followed by Natsumi, and the rest of the group walked out through the actual doors.

"Fuyuki! Where are you?" Aki called. The clone Fuyuki held up a finger, gesturing for silence. He seemed to be concentrating. After a moment he spoke.

"They're in this direction. Or at least Fuyuki is. I can sense his thoughts," he said, pointing into the trees. They all headed into the trees, and after not too long they ran across the campsite. Aki tackled Fuyuki before he even noticed they were there.

"Fuyuki! Thank goodness you're safe!" Aki said, tearing up a little. Fuyuki was shocked.

"Mom? Where did you come from?" he exclaimed. His face was still slightly red, but no one could tell in the dark. Momoka still hadn't returned to camp.

"I led them here," the clone said, stepping out of the shadows. Fuyuki's blush left his face, as well as the rest of his color.

"Wh-what? But, h-how?" Fuyuki stammered.

"Clone," Natsumi explained simply. Fuyuki's eyes widened.

"It doesn't matter! Come on, Fuyuki, we're going home!" Aki exclaimed, grabbing his hand. Fuyuki didn't budge.

"What about Momoka?" Fuyuki asked, looking Aki straight in the eye.

"She has her bodyguards. They can come and get her later. Serves her right for kidnapping you," Aki said, tugging his arm a little harder. Fuyuki stood his ground.

"We can't just leave her here!" he insisted, stronger this time. Everyone stared at him. He flushed again.

"What?" he exclaimed defensively.

"I think that is the first time I've seen you stand up to ANYONE, let alone Mom!" Natsumi exclaimed in shock. The entire rest of the group nodded at that, including the clone, who shared most of his memories. Fuyuki crossed his arms stubbornly. Aki sighed.

"Fine," Aki relented reluctantly. Fuyuki thanked her, and they spread around in groups of twoto search for her, wherever she'd run off to. After nearly an hour, their efforts were still as fruitless as ever. Fuyuki, Tamomi and Tamama were all starting to worry. Everyone else had a similar mindset to Aki. Getting more and more desperate, Fuyuki ran off without Dororo, who was his partner. Dororo was busy traumatizing at the moment, so he didn't notice until it was too late.

"Momoka!" Fuyuki called, running though the woods. He came to the cliff that Momoka and he had sat on, and found a path down to the beach. She wasn't there, but he saw a cave that they hadn't noticed before. Thinking she must have gone down there, Fuyuki went in to search for her. He noticed scratch marks along the sides of the cave. Wild animals, perhaps?

After a few minutes, Fuyuki became aware of a dull thrumming sound, accompanied by a dim pulse of an eerie greenish light. He ran towards it, starting to realize that Momoka's disappearance wasn't her just wandering off. He turned a corner and almost ran into a metal door with a screen next to it. The source of the thrumming was behind the door, but the light was right above it, still pulsing. The screen lit up.

"To pass through this series of doors, you must answer a number of questions about the race of aliens inside," said an automated voice, billowing out from a speaker embedded in the rock of the cave to his right. He frowned. Aliens? They must have taken Momoka for experiments!

The screen displayed a question: 'When did Americans first use the phrase 'little green men' to describe our species?' Fuyuki smiled. Now he knew EVERYTHING he would need to answer any of these stupid questions. No obsessed boy was complete without a thorough knowledge of the 1900's most stereotypical alien species.

"1908 in the _Daily Kennebec Journal!_" Fuyuki exclaimed. This was HIS now. Don't worry Momoka, I'm coming!

The door slid open. Five feet later, and another door. There was a number at the top of this screen, showing how many doors he still had to pass. Only four more.

Next question: 'When did Harold M. Sherman publish the book entitled "The Green Man: A Visitor From Space", which was actually all about us?'

"1946!" Fuyuki said quickly. The door slid open. This was too easy.

The next two questions were just as easy. The last door came.

'What is the current name for the pulsar previously known as LGM-1, which was once mistaken for a signal from our planet in the next solar system over?'

Fuyuki froze. He knew this! He just had to think. He'd just read something online… but he couldn't quite remember. But he had to save Momoka! The answer came to him.

"PSR B1919+21!" he said, hoping desperately that memory hadn't failed him, when it was so important that he remember. He was right. The door slid open on a lab, where a stereo typical alien had Momoka sedated and strapped to a table.

"Momoka!" Fuyuki said, running into the room. The alien turned around.

"How did you get in here?" he exclaimed angrily.

"Your security system was no match for me! I'm obsessed, and proud of it, so your little pop quiz was a walk in the park!" Fuyuki exclaimed defiantly. He ran over to Momoka.

"What've you done to her? She'd better not be hurt, you jerk!" Fuyuki exclaimed.

"I am simply furthering our ongoing research of the Pekoponians. She has an interesting mentality which we haven't been able to study yet. She would not have been injured in the process," the alien said.

"Well find someone else! I'm taking her back!" Fuyuki said, and released Momoka from the table. She was still out cold.

"How long will she be out?" Fuyuki asked, preparing to carry her back to the others. Normally it would've been an impossible feat, knowing his strength, but whenever adrenaline or aliens were involved, he'd gotten very used to running with Momoka's weight, though it was usually dragging behind him.

"No more than forty-five of your earth minutes," the alien said grudgingly. "But can't I please run some tests on her? Otherwise I have to wait for some other human to run along!"

"NO!" Fuyuki said, and picked Momoka up in a piggyback sort of position, and began making his way out of the alien's base of operations. The doors closed behind him as he left, and soon he'd managed to carry Momoka out to the beach once again. Dororo, who'd been tracking Fuyuki ever since he'd stopped moping and realized he'd gone, had just followed Fuyuki's trail to the beach, and ran to get help. Fuyuki set Momoka down on the sand, still supporting her back so she was in a sitting position, and waited for the rest of the group to come.

"Fuyuki! You found her! What happened?" Natsumi said, rushing over and noticing that Momoka was out cold.

Fuyuki told his story, and Natsumi helped him carry Momoka back to the Aki-bot. Fuyuki wrapped her in a blanket and sat her in the seat next to him so he could keep an eye on her. Natsumi walked over as Aki got prepared to launch.

"You're being awfully protective. It's so cute!" Natsumi teased, and Fuyuki flushed.

"Shut up, Natsumi!" was the only comeback he could think of. Natsumi grinned and walked back to her seat just in time for lift-off.

They were finally going home.


	32. Chapter 32

I was going to try to get to Gertrude this chapter, but the last chapter left off in a bad place, so I'm going to add some more of that! Gertrude's story will be soon, though!

The Aki-bot hit some turbulence on the way back to Japan, and Momoka's limp body nearly fell out of her seat, though Fuyuki managed to catch her.

"Couldn't you have installed seatbelts, Kululu?" he asked, annoyed. This wasn't the first time she'd almost fallen out of her chair. Kululu just laughed, so sighing, Fuyuki awkwardly laid Momoka across his lap and the seat where she'd been sitting, so that he could keep her from falling off again. Natsumi winked at him. He flushed.

Momoka stirred slightly. The sedative had almost worn off. When they were less than five minutes from the Nishizawa estate, Momoka's eyes fluttered open. She was shocked and delighted to find that she was draped across Fuyuki's lap, though the physical contact still kind of terrified her.

"You're awake!" Fuyuki exclaimed happily, helping her into a sitting position. Her head hurt. She looked around.

"When did you guys get here?" she asked, slightly disoriented. Fuyuki explained what had happened. She was shocked to learn that she'd been abducted. All she'd remembered was nodding off on the cliff while she looked over the ocean, trying to sort out her thoughts on what had happened.

They touched down gently on Momoka's front lawn, and were met by Paul, who was worried out of his mind about his Mistress.

"Mistress Momoka! I failed in my duty and disclosed your location! I have failed!" Paul said tragically. Momoka shrugged.

"It's alright, Paul. It's not your fault," Momoka said. Paul was shocked. He was expecting Dark Momoka to come out and scold him. There were two reasons that had not happened: First of all, she was more than satisfied with what had happened on the island. Second, the sedative still hadn't completely worn off yet, and she was too tired to bring out Dark Momoka. She staggered a bit, and Paul caught her, then picked her up to carry her inside.

Fuyuki waved goodbye over his shoulder as he climbed back into the Aki-bot, and within minutes they were home, back to their semi-normal lives. It was Giroro who finally noticed Gertrude's absence, realizing that her thoughts were gone. But everyone assumed that, like Giroro, she could fend for herself, so everyone put off worrying about it. All exhausted, everyone collapsed into their respective beds and were asleep almost instantly.


End file.
